A new biotech, Rome Therapeutics, launched Monday with $50 million and a plan to develop novel drugs based on new insights into repeats in the non-coding stretches of the human genome. Rome’s debut pulls back the curtain on what Rosana Kapeller, the company’s co-founder and CEO, has been up to since she left Nimbus Therapeutics … Continue reading “At Rome Therapeutics, Kapeller Aims to Turn “Junk” Into New Drugs”
Tag: Google Ventures
Freenome Snags $160M to Boost Blood Test for Early Cancer Detection
Freenome, one of the rivals racing to detect the earliest signs of cancer through blood tests, announced Wednesday it has raised $160 million in a Series B funding round. The money boosts Freenome’s fundraising total to $238 million. It’s a boon for the South San Francisco startup founded in 2014, but not an unusual haul … Continue reading “Freenome Snags $160M to Boost Blood Test for Early Cancer Detection”
Locana, Fueled With $55M, Looks to Develop Fixes for Faulty RNA
Editing human DNA has entered the public consciousness in a big way in recent years with its increasing use in laboratories—and, in recent news that shocked the scientific community, in embryos—of tools such as CRISPR-Cas9. Locana, a gene therapy biotech in San Diego, is taking what it describes as a “parallel path” to developing therapeutics … Continue reading “Locana, Fueled With $55M, Looks to Develop Fixes for Faulty RNA”
Insitro Lands Three-Year Deal With Gilead to Find New NASH Drugs
Drug discovery startup Insitro burst onto the scene last year with ambitions of using machine learning techniques to find new therapies. Now the company has its first pharmaceutical partner. Gilead Sciences will work with Insitro to find medicines to treat a liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), that is fast becoming a global epidemic fueled by … Continue reading “Insitro Lands Three-Year Deal With Gilead to Find New NASH Drugs”
Al Gore: Coming Tech Revolution Could Take More Jobs Than It Makes
Al Gore may just be on the side of the Luddites. Yes, that’s the radical faction of British textile workers at the onset of the Industrial Revolution who broke into factories to smash the new machines that they feared would someday put them out of work. But no, Gore is not yet raging against the … Continue reading “Al Gore: Coming Tech Revolution Could Take More Jobs Than It Makes”
Women Who Code in Houston, Sam’s Club, Springdale & More TX Tech
Let’s catch up with the latest innovation news in Texas. —Sam’s Club Now, the Dallas-based innovation center where Walmart’s bulk buying business is located, says it has a new scanning technology that can reduce checkout times. The technology, which uses computer vision and machine learning, will be piloted at the Sam’s Club Now store this … Continue reading “Women Who Code in Houston, Sam’s Club, Springdale & More TX Tech”
Bill Maris’s VC Firm Section 32 Raises $200M for Second Fund
Section 32, the venture capital fund based in San Diego’s Cardiff-by-the-Sea community, has raised nearly $200 million for its second fund. A document filed with securities regulators Friday shed light on comments made the previous week to Xconomy by Section 32 founder Bill Maris, who started the firm in 2017. Maris on Feb. 15 confirmed … Continue reading “Bill Maris’s VC Firm Section 32 Raises $200M for Second Fund”
“At a Critical Juncture,” Desktop Metal Gets $160M From Koch Fund
[Updated 11:41 am ET. See below.] Desktop Metal, a metal 3D-printing company, has raised $160 million in a funding round led by the technology arm of Koch Industries, the multinational industrial conglomerate owned by billionaire philanthropists and right-leaning political donors Charles and David Koch. With the Series E funding from Koch Disruptive Technologies and other investors, … Continue reading ““At a Critical Juncture,” Desktop Metal Gets $160M From Koch Fund”
A Healthier Lifestyle Helped Lead This Tech Exec to His Next Venture
Austin—Douglas Ferguson needed a change after his diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes at age 30. As a career software engineer and technology executive, Ferguson has been a part of the Austin, TX, tech scene since its first heyday in the 1990s. The diagnosis, which he received in the mid-2000s, was a product of that sleepless, … Continue reading “A Healthier Lifestyle Helped Lead This Tech Exec to His Next Venture”
How 3 Detroit Founders Built Tech Startups Despite City’s Bankruptcy
On July 18th, 2013, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, becoming the largest city in American history to do so. Just four years earlier, Chrysler and General Motors—automobile companies that were long a staple of the Detroit economy—had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “You hear stories about the Great Depression in the … Continue reading “How 3 Detroit Founders Built Tech Startups Despite City’s Bankruptcy”
Boston Tech Watch: Underscore VC, Piaggio, SoftBank & Sea Machines
A pair of massive Boston-area investments from the Japanese SoftBank Group’s $100 billion Vision Fund, a moonshot power storage spinout from Alphabet’s X labs, and some local robotics moves are found in this week’s Boston technology news. —Underscore VC, a Boston-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage tech startups, is capping off its second fund … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Underscore VC, Piaggio, SoftBank & Sea Machines”
RightHand Robotics Adds $23M to Scale Up Its Warehouse Tech
Warehouses run entirely by robots may not be waiting on the horizon, but that—and much more—remains a goal for Somerville, MA-based RightHand Robotics. “A typical item delivered to a customer is touched four to 11 times before it ships,” says the company’s co-founder Leif Jentoft. “We are looking to automate every one of those picks.” … Continue reading “RightHand Robotics Adds $23M to Scale Up Its Warehouse Tech”
HubSpot Wants to Stoke Innovation With $30M Corporate Venture Fund
Hubspot is launching a $30 million corporate venture capital fund to invest in promising startups that can boost its marketing platform. HubSpot Ventures will back companies with software tools that align with the Cambridge, MA-based company’s aim to help small and medium businesses grow, the company says. Target companies will also need to align with … Continue reading “HubSpot Wants to Stoke Innovation With $30M Corporate Venture Fund”
As Unicorns Multiply, Bootstrapped Tech Businesses Holding Steady
[Corrected 12/11/18, 11:20 p.m. See below.] Why do unicorns get all the attention? Brian de Haaff wonders this sometimes, especially as compared to his own tech business, Aha. It’s not a “unicorn”—a business with a valuation of more than $1 billion—and it’s not even close. Instead, Aha is a bootstrapped startup. Founded in 2013 by … Continue reading “As Unicorns Multiply, Bootstrapped Tech Businesses Holding Steady”
Google Leads Mabl’s $20M Series B as Software Testing Deals Heat Up
Dan Belcher and Izzy Azeri sold their last startup, Stackdriver, to Google. Now, Google’s venture capital arm has backed the entrepreneurial duo’s latest company, Mabl. Boston-based Mabl said Tuesday it has pulled in $20 million in a Series B funding round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). CRV and Amplify Partners also contributed to the … Continue reading “Google Leads Mabl’s $20M Series B as Software Testing Deals Heat Up”
Detroit’s StockX Raises $44M Funding Round, Plans to Hire 1,000
StockX, the online “stock market of things” focused on sneakers and other high-demand, limited-edition products, has closed one of the largest investment rounds raised by a Detroit startup and announced yesterday that it now plans to go on a major hiring spree. The news came from StockX CEO Josh Luber during a keynote speech at the … Continue reading “Detroit’s StockX Raises $44M Funding Round, Plans to Hire 1,000”
E-Commerce Startups Open Door to Endless Virtual Closet
The sharing economy is moving into our bedroom closets. We already apply this idea to transportation (Uber vs. taxi) and vacation accommodations (Airbnb vs. hotel). Now, thanks to a growing number of e-commerce companies, the ability to share goods and services is being applied to our wardrobes through programs that offer clothing rentals for a … Continue reading “E-Commerce Startups Open Door to Endless Virtual Closet”
Bitcoin at Rodeo Houston, TurnKey Gets $31M, SXSW & More TX Tech
Here are some innovation tidbits from around the state: —Cryptocurrency seems to be everywhere, so maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to see a “Bitcoin Accepted” sign at a food concession at Rodeo Houston this week (picture to the right.) Mark Zable, owner of Finer Diner, says he’s been into bitcoin the last couple of … Continue reading “Bitcoin at Rodeo Houston, TurnKey Gets $31M, SXSW & More TX Tech”
With Pellini on Board, Maris Sets Course at Section 32
It’s not easy to catch up with Bill Maris at Section 32, the venture firm he founded last year near San Diego. It took a while to arrange a call to discuss how Foundation Medicine’s Michael Pellini had joined Section 32 as Maris’s first investing partner, and what they plan to do together. Maris acknowledged … Continue reading “With Pellini on Board, Maris Sets Course at Section 32”
GV Tops Off $74.5M Haul for Paper Digitization Startup Ripcord
The co-founders of Hayward, CA-based startup Ripcord got together in 2015 to solve a mundane problem that plagues every office: big piles of paper records. To do that, they had to make use of the complete array of high-end tools in the advanced technology arsenal, from robotics and AI to computer vision and language processing. … Continue reading “GV Tops Off $74.5M Haul for Paper Digitization Startup Ripcord”
Relay Tx Raises $63M to Advance Protein Motion Drugs Into the Clinic
Proteins play important roles in cells, folding and changing their shape to perform various biological functions. While many of these shapes are important to healthy cell function, some shapes are linked to disease, says Sanjiv Patel, CEO of Relay Therapeutics. Relay has developed a way to see this protein motion, and use that moving image … Continue reading “Relay Tx Raises $63M to Advance Protein Motion Drugs Into the Clinic”
Amid Slow VR Growth, Virtual Hangouts Startup AltspaceVR to Shut Down
Despite advances in virtual reality technology and plenty of hype, the medium has yet to take off in the way its advocates envision. The latest reminder is the demise of AltspaceVR, a Redwood City, CA-based startup that hosts social experiences in virtual venues. The four-year-old company announced in a blog post Friday that it will … Continue reading “Amid Slow VR Growth, Virtual Hangouts Startup AltspaceVR to Shut Down”
Evelo Bio Raises $50M Round to Bring Microbiome Drugs Into Trials
Bacteria have evolved with humans over many thousands of years, forming a delicate balance in the body that researchers are just now starting to understand. Evelo Biosciences believes it can tap into the workings of the human microbiome to treat immune disorders and cancer and it now has raised $50 million in financing to test … Continue reading “Evelo Bio Raises $50M Round to Bring Microbiome Drugs Into Trials”
Initiative to Boost SoCal’s Startup Scene Teams With GV Founder
A Silicon Valley entrepreneur has set out to boost the startup ecosystem in San Diego and the rest of Southern California—and he already has scored a coup by partnering with Bill Maris, the founder and former CEO of Google Ventures, now known as GV. Steve Poizner, who sold two of his startups to Qualcomm (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Initiative to Boost SoCal’s Startup Scene Teams With GV Founder”
Bowery Picks Up $20M to Expand Indoor Farming in the U.S. and Beyond
Indoor farming is catching on in more urban areas, giving city dwellers more choices for locally grown produce. Agtech startup Bowery aims to make its leafy greens part of that retail mix, and it has raised $20 million in new funding to support its expansion. General Catalyst and GGV Capital co-led the Series A round, … Continue reading “Bowery Picks Up $20M to Expand Indoor Farming in the U.S. and Beyond”
Magenta Nabs More Cash, Licenses Drug To Boost Transplant Pipeline
Magenta Therapeutics said today it has doubled its money with a $50 million Series B round led by GV, formerly Google Ventures. The Cambridge, MA-based startup spun out of Harvard University last year with nearly $50 million in launch money to develop improved bone marrow transplants. Magenta has also licensed a drug from Novartis that … Continue reading “Magenta Nabs More Cash, Licenses Drug To Boost Transplant Pipeline”
Gates Foundation Leads $45.5M Round for Gerngross’s Biotech Arsanis
[Corrected 4/27/17, 11:57 p.m. See Below.] Arsanis, a Waltham, MA-based biotech co-founded by scientist and entrepreneur Tillman Gerngross to develop treatments for bacterial and viral infections, has raised a $45.5 million investment led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to finance a mid-stage clinical trial for its lead drug program. The Series D round of … Continue reading “Gates Foundation Leads $45.5M Round for Gerngross’s Biotech Arsanis”
ZappRx Gets $25M to Push E-Prescription Tools for Specialty Meds
[Corrected 4/20/17, 9:15 a.m. See below.] ZappRx, a Boston-based startup trying to streamline the process of ordering and refilling specialty medications, has raised a $25 million round of funding led by Seattle venture capital firm Qiming US Healthcare Fund. Notably, GV, the venture capital arm of Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOGL]]), is participating in the … Continue reading “ZappRx Gets $25M to Push E-Prescription Tools for Specialty Meds”
Bristol Flips Remnants of Adnexus, iPierian to Roche, Biogen For $470M
Priorities change over time for drugmakers, as evidenced today by Bristol-Myers Squibb. The company announced two separate deals for experimental drugs that no longer fit its strategy—both of which were remnants of old acquisitions and a past plan to zero in on genetic diseases. In one deal, Bristol (NYSE: [[ticker:BMY]]) has sent Biogen (NASDAQ:[[ticker:BIIB]]), of … Continue reading “Bristol Flips Remnants of Adnexus, iPierian to Roche, Biogen For $470M”
Rebooted and Refocused, Startup Cool Planet Eyes the Soil Market
When Cool Planet found a lukewarm market for its renewable fuel, the startup needed to change course. Now focused on agriculture, Greenwood, CO-based Cool Planet is aiming for the market again—this time with a soils supplement backed by $19.3 million in new capital. The Series A round was led by Agustín Coppel, a member of … Continue reading “Rebooted and Refocused, Startup Cool Planet Eyes the Soil Market”
Desktop Metal Gets $45M From GV, BMW, & Lowe’s, Preps Product Launch
Desktop Metal is one of the better-funded Boston-area startups without a product on the market. But it plans to change that this year, and now the company has even more cash to help get its initial metal 3D printing system across the finish line. Today, Desktop Metal announced it raised a $45 million Series C … Continue reading “Desktop Metal Gets $45M From GV, BMW, & Lowe’s, Preps Product Launch”
Seed-Stage Deals Show Growing Diversity of Agtech Investments
Fundraising is tough for startups but it’s particularly difficult in agriculture, a sector that has fewer firms focused on agtech investments. The dynamics are starting to change, though. A growing number of early-stage agtech startups are raising money and they’re pulling capital from a broader pool of sources, according to a new report from AgFunder, … Continue reading “Seed-Stage Deals Show Growing Diversity of Agtech Investments”
Boston Tech Watch: IBM, Adelphic, Mylestoned, Everbridge & More
[Updated 1/26/17, 2:42 pm. See below.] This week in Boston tech, we’re tracking a string of acquisitions, funding rounds, and more. The moves include an acquisition by IBM Security, more funding for a telecom technology company that has raised $200 million-plus from investors, more money for “deathtech” startup Mylestoned, and the reaction of a local … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: IBM, Adelphic, Mylestoned, Everbridge & More”
Foundation, Roche Deepen Ties as Genentech Vet Steps in for CEO Pellini
[Updated, 2:37 pm ET] Two years ago, almost to the day, Foundation Medicine celebrated its biggest announcement ever. Roche had just paid more than $1 billion for a majority stake in the cancer diagnostics company in a sweeping collaboration that sent Foundation’s shares to all-time highs. Fast forward to today, and Cambridge, MA-based Foundation (NASDAQ: … Continue reading “Foundation, Roche Deepen Ties as Genentech Vet Steps in for CEO Pellini”
Bio Roundup: NY Rises, Prez Inks Cures, Ophthotech Crashes & More
The 21st Century Cures Act is now law. New York wants to play in the biotech big leagues. The FDA under Trump will have license to approve drugs faster and could have a former top official back on board as commissioner. An eye drug failed, an Alzheimer’s drug got scrutinized, and a new antibiotic passed … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: NY Rises, Prez Inks Cures, Ophthotech Crashes & More”
PatientPing Gets $32M From Leerink, Andreessen for Health Info Sharing
PatientPing has raised $31.6 million from investors on both coasts to speed up adoption of its software that helps doctors track when their patients get admitted to or released from the hospital. The Series B funding round was led by Boston-based Leerink Transformation Partners and Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture firm that has backed … Continue reading “PatientPing Gets $32M From Leerink, Andreessen for Health Info Sharing”
Governments Pay for Research, Jobs in San Antonio Tech and Science
San Antonio — Finding funding for tech and life science ventures is no easy endeavor, be it an academic setting or in the corporate world. Government groups in Texas announced this week that they’re providing money to both sectors in San Antonio to boost research and job growth. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas … Continue reading “Governments Pay for Research, Jobs in San Antonio Tech and Science”
Bio Roundup: Precision Med and Google, Heron, Lilly, Sarepta & More
The wait continues. An FDA ruling on a Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug from Sarepta Therapeutics—which could be the first ever approved for the disease—has been imminent for a while now, yet Labor Day is fast approaching and still the saga drags on. Speculation abounds, from analysts and pundits, each giving different opinions as to whether … Continue reading “Bio Roundup: Precision Med and Google, Heron, Lilly, Sarepta & More”
Boston Tech Watch: Bain, New Google Project, Desktop Metal & More
In recent Boston tech news, Bain Capital Ventures reloaded its coffers for early-stage tech investments. Android co-founder Rich Miner is working on a new project at Google. Several startups scooped up more cash, including 3D printing firm Desktop Metal. And a healthtech company changed hands. Read on for details. —Bain Capital Ventures closed on a … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Bain, New Google Project, Desktop Metal & More”
A Peek Into Boxbee’s Pivot From a Storage Service to Software
[Updated 5/18/16, 6:50 am. See below.] Change is not always easy, but for some startups it is a shot at evolving into something tangible. Confronted with uncertain prospects for growth, the team at Boxbee, based in New York, pivoted away from its original business—which was managing the pickup and storage of personal property for its customers. … Continue reading “A Peek Into Boxbee’s Pivot From a Storage Service to Software”
With $40M Led by GV, Quartet Expands Tech for Mental Health Care
Quartet Health, the data-focused New York company that is trying to connect what it calls behavioral and physical healthcare, has received a $40 million Series B round led by GV, the venture capital arm of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Quartet plans to spend the new money on gaining clients in five to 10 more major … Continue reading “With $40M Led by GV, Quartet Expands Tech for Mental Health Care”
InCube Labs Startup Fe3 Plans Iron-Delivering Patch For Anemia
San Antonio — Mir Imran, the founder and CEO of InCube Labs, has more than 200 patents to his name and has created more than 20 companies through InCube, a healthcare-focused research and development business that invents new technology with the goal of spinning them into separate businesses. Maybe, then, it’s not surprising that Imran … Continue reading “InCube Labs Startup Fe3 Plans Iron-Delivering Patch For Anemia”
Gusto, Growing in Denver, Looks to Add 1,000 Area Employees
Striding into the new Gusto office in the heart of Denver’s frantic LoDo neighborhood feels a bit like stepping into a daycare center. But not in the snotty-nosed-kid way. More like the prototypical Silicon-Valley-startup way. Just three stories above the bustling 16th Street Mall, the tricked-out lobby area boasts massive, floor-to-ceiling maps of the region … Continue reading “Gusto, Growing in Denver, Looks to Add 1,000 Area Employees”
From California to New York, Fintech Finds Loans for Almost Anyone
From small business loan makers to algorithm-based lenders, the fintech arena is producing alternative lending options for practically every type of consumer and small ventures. Since small business and consumer lenders OnDeck and Lending Club opened up the flood gates with initial public offerings in late 2014, the world of online and tech-based lending has … Continue reading “From California to New York, Fintech Finds Loans for Almost Anyone”
Boston Tech Watch: DraftKings, Plexxi, Flywire, MassCEC, & More
This week in Boston, we’re tracking new funds for tech companies and incubator programs, a pair of acquisitions, the latest challenger to the daily fantasy sports industry, and this year’s participants in a local accelerator for startups trying to improve society. —Nashua, NH-based Plexxi announced it raised an undisclosed amount of funding from GV, formerly … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: DraftKings, Plexxi, Flywire, MassCEC, & More”
Seattle Roundup: Venture Stats, Elevate Capital, VR, UIEvolution, & More
Lots to catch up on this week in the Northwest including Washington’s 2015 venture investment tally; a new Portland, OR-based venture fund forming with an explicit focus on under-represented entrepreneurs and parts of the region; new funding for EnvelopVR and UIEvolution; the growing regional and global footprint of Tableau Software; and a new round of … Continue reading “Seattle Roundup: Venture Stats, Elevate Capital, VR, UIEvolution, & More”
New Capital For Anaplan, App Annie, Shape Security
Bay Area companies, back from the holidays, unveiled some substantial fundraising hauls this week. —Anaplan, a provider of Web-based planning software for businesses, announced a $90 million Series E financing round that pegs its valuation at more than $1 billion. The San Francisco-based company’s planning tools are designed to track numerical data from all aspects … Continue reading “New Capital For Anaplan, App Annie, Shape Security”
Toast, From Endeca Vets, Orders Up $30M For Restaurant Software
Don’t underestimate seasoned software developers who come highly recommended—even when they’re building a product for an industry in which they have little experience. That’s the lesson that Bessemer Venture Partners’ Kent Bennett learned with Toast, the fast-growing Boston restaurant technology company that today announced a $30 million Series B round led by Bessemer. GV, formerly … Continue reading “Toast, From Endeca Vets, Orders Up $30M For Restaurant Software”
Boston Tech Watch: Startup Deals, Robots, & Patent Lawsuits
This week in Boston, we’re tracking new funds for software companies, the latest happenings in the local robotics sector, and an update in an Akamai patent lawsuit. Read on for details. —PatientPing said it raised $9.6 million in a round led by Google Ventures and Fidelity affiliate F-Prime Capital, with participation by First Round Capital and … Continue reading “Boston Tech Watch: Startup Deals, Robots, & Patent Lawsuits”
tinyRx Lands $5,000,000 New Financing
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=3a4f4385-5515-4984-957f-68f843a9904b Date 11/17/2015 Company Name tinyRx Mailing Address 845 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103 USA Company Description TinyRx believes that getting your prescriptions should be as seamless and convenient as possible. The company operates a pharmacy products delivery service. Website http://www.tinyrx.co Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $5,000,000 Transaction Round Undisclosed … Continue reading “tinyRx Lands $5,000,000 New Financing”